May 28, 2011 is a day that will forever live in the memories of anyone involved at Saracens. A moment that stood still and that has etched its way into the history books. It was never going to come easy and that’s just the way you would want it.

Thirty-plus phases, Leicester battering their way at the line, but defences held firm and the belief installed in the team, having been crowned the best defensive side in the Premiership, shined through. Moments of jubilation and hysteria were quickly seized by a mellowing sense of accomplishment.

A group of players’ most important quality was that they were a group of tightly-knit friends. Forged through experiences on the field and special friendships made on Munich and Miami bonding trips.

The team has been lead brilliantly under Steve Borthwick and Ernst Joubert. Our coaching staff… Read more

So, after nearly nine months of relentless work on the field a whole season’s work will literally come down to 80 minutes at Twickenham on Saturday.

Quite rightly the top two sides in the Aviva Premiership have advanced to the grand final – one which I believe will once again be tough to call.

If it is anything like last weekend’s Heineken Cup final between Northampton Saints and Leinster, then we can expect a thrilling spectacle. That said, last year’s final between both Leicester Tigers and Saracens will certainly take some beating.

Having faced both the ‘Tigers’ and the ‘Fez Heads’ at close hand this season, I suppose I am well equipped to know what both will bring to the party on Saturday.

For me, Leicester’s big-match experience and the fact they have been there so many times before make them my initial favourites. Both sides, though, will come into the final not only well rested, but in fine form having come through testing semi-final encounters.

Leicester, I feel, will just edge it if they starve Sarries of possession and make a real mess of the breakdown. That said, Sarries have shown numerous times this year what an attacking team they can be.

As he has shown countless times this season, hooker Schalk Brits is a real handful for any opposition and can literally make something happen on his own.

Leicester too have many matchwinners in their armoury, although it will be interesting to see how they cope with the loss of Manu Tuilagi. Not only does he offer them a massive amount of go forward in their midfield, but his physical presence in defence is also something they are used too.

The officials decision to send Steve Borthwick to the sin-bin, for nothing more than being accidentally dropped in the line-out, nearly cost Saracens their place in the Aviva Premiership final and continued a theme of below-par officiating this weekend.

After the madness at Welford Road on Saturday the attention was always going to be on the officials in the second play-off at Vicarage Road but this was another incorrect decision in a high profile game.

Borthwick lost his lift from Carlos Nieto and broke the fall of the jumping Alex Brown, resulting in the Gloucester man landing awkwardly. An accident and nothing more.

Not according to the assistant referee Peter Huckle. This was “dangerous play – recommendation yellow card”.

To make matters worse minutes later Huckle then missed a late and reckless charge from Jacques Burger on Freddie Burns. That was a yellow card.

Either way, with Borthwick in the sin-bin Gloucester scored a break-away try and took a lead that could have denied Saracens a place at Twickenham in a fortnight had Owen Farrell not converted a later penalty.

Austin Healey, commenting on the game for ESPN argued that the problem is an ageing group of officials. “We need some younger blood in the refereeing game,” said Healey. “They [younger referees] know what’s going on”

Mike Tindall also on studio duties argued there needs to be more ex-pros moving into refereeing – like ex-Saracen Glen Jackson now running the line in Super Rugby – as they are more au fait with what goes on in elite rugby.

Those commenting on this blog have suggested that the television match official should be called upon for incidents of foul play.

Whatever the solution is it has been proven emphatically this weekend that the current bunch of officials are making costly errors. Change of some kind is needed.

What do you think? Does refereeing need a shake-up in England? Should the television match official be able to intervene in incidents aside from the act of scoring?

After a season disrupted by injury, Goode has hit top form and has been crucial to Saracens’ charge for a place in the Premiership final

14) Charlie Sharples (Gloucester)

Gloucester have proved to be one of the best attacking sides in the country and Sharples has often proved himself to be at the cutting edge

13) Jon Clarke (Northampton)

The hugely under-rated centre is central to Northampton’s attacking flow and defensive solidity. Will be in Leicester’s sights.

12) Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu (Gloucester)

His influence has been so crucial to Gloucester’s hugely-impressive campaign that he has been nominated for the RPA’s players’ player of the year award.

11) Alesana Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)

Has been overshadowed by his little brother Manu this season by Alesana’s physicality will be key to Leicester’s bid to overcome Northampton.

10) Owen Farrell (Saracens)

What a test for the 19 year-old. He has earned plaudits for a phenomenal debut season but he won’t have faced pressure of a Premiership play-off before.

9) Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)

Dickson exploits with aplomb the front-front ball that his pack normally serves up and he will relish his battle with England scrum-half Ben Youngs today.

1) Soane Tonga’hui (Northampton Saints)

Is there an more influential prop in the Premiership? Leicester though will hope to tie him up by making him work in the scrum.

2) Schalk Brits (Saracens)

Brits’ explosive running game exposed Gloucester last month and he will aim to replicate that performance tomorrow

3) Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers)

Castrogiovanni is one of the totems of the Leicester pack and if he can tame Tonga’hui, his side could be on their way to Twickenham again

4) Jim Hamilton (Gloucester)

Hamilton is the rock at the heart of the Gloucester pack and he will need to be at his best against an experienced Saracens pairing.

5) Steve Borthwick (Saracens)

Borthwick desperately wants to play for England again, but his first focus will be a Premiership title with Sarries.

6) Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)

Croft missed the Six Nations because of a shoulder injury but is back to his imperious best again

7) Phil Dowson (Northampton Saints)

Dowson has enjoyed another hugely impressive season and his battle with Leicester Tigers back row will be a key contest today.

8) Luke Narraway (Gloucester)

The Gloucester captain faces a monumental battle against Saracens’ in-form No 8 Ernst Joubert. Should be a classic confrontation.

Profile: Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu (Gloucester)

Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu has been a revelation for Gloucester this season. The Samoan, who never quite reached his full potential at Bath, has been at the centre of Bryan Redpath’s impressive campaign over the second half of the season, and has been recognized with a nomination for the illustrious Rugby Players’ Assocation’s players’ player of the season.

Fuimaono-Sapolu has already swept the board at Gloucester’s own awards night, winning scooping player of the season, players’ player of the year and try of the season.

Winning the Premiership title is what motivates the 30 year-old, however.

“Fair play to the man, he’s very humble and he’s been embarrassed about it, but he’s just an incredibly talented and gifted rugby player,” said Redpath of the tributes paid to Fuimaono-Sapolu this season.

“But he has huge respect for the big fellas in the forwards who give him the opportunity to play, and he always harps on about it, but they have a huge respect for him when he puts in a decent shot, or he beats someone and gets an offload, or he scores a try.

“If we can keep the balance that we’ve been striving for all season, between being direct at the right times and playing with width at the right times, then we’ll give ourselves a chance on Sunday.”

The key to Fuimaono-Sapolu’s form has been adapting his flair and verve to a more structured attacking approach at Gloucester. Yet is creative genius is still central to Gloucester’s ability to carve open try-scoring opportunities.

“He doesn’t necessarily stick to script, but when he does his basics very well he’s a joy to watch,” added Redpath.

“He’s great to work with, he’s challenging to work with, because of his individual game within a team.

“His general work ethic is very high, he’s a very proud man and he’s done very well for us.”

People seem to have us down as big underdogs against Saracens at Vicarage Road on Sunday. Maybe that’s right. It’s on their patch and they’re in form. But there’s always a chance for us.

I think what we’ve learned from our defeat at Saracens last month is how important it is to match them physically. If you match up physically then you can beat them at what they do.

They’re very clean in their own half, they exit very well and their kicking game is good. If you can match up to them in the kicking game then you can end up putting the squeeze on them a bit and playing in the right areas.

A few weeks back, we didn’t get out of our own half very well which… Read more

Coming into the business end of the season all eyes are on the top four places in the Aviva Premiership table.

It’s been the talk at Irish since the beginning of preseason, as I’m sure it has been with the majority of teams in the league. With only four games to go every game is vital. We need to concentrate on winning and hope some other teams are helping us out along the way.

At this stage of the year all the hard work should be done, everyone in the squad should now know all the moves and the patterns of play. Training is now sharp in regard to keeping all the players fresh after a long season.

I’ve played every game for Irish this year bar one and the physicality of the Premiership and Heineken Cup can take its toll on the body. Luckily at Irish we have great conditioning and medical teams. Every session I do is monitored on GPS so everyone knows how much running (or little as was the case this week!) I have done. As the week goes on training can then be altered depending on the work load each player has endured.

The club for me that is leading by example at this time of year is Saracens. Any team that flies its players to Miami at whatever time of year is alright by me! Hopefully Toby Booth and Mike Catt get some inspiration from this trip and start look into a sunny trip abroad, although realistically for us it will be more like Bognor Regis than Barbados!

We are coming off the back of a big win at home to Exeter, it was our St Patrick’s game so the crowd was the biggest and loudest it has been all season – this makes a huge difference to the players on the pitch, it helps them to lift their game and bring home the win!

We hope to see many of those supporters enticed back again this weekend – it would be great to see a similar crowd at the Madejski on Sunday afternoon.

Nick Kennedy plays lock for London Irish in the Aviva Premiership and has been capped seven times by England

This is backed up by his stats from the Scotland vs Wales clash, showing an exceptional workrate, where he obtained the highest stats for Scotland in tackles made, effective rucks and ball carries – something you don’t see very often.

Kelly has been a great addition to the Saracens squad this season, besides his obvious rugby talent, and bringing great leadership to the team, he has brought a fair bit of excitement off the field.

And no, I’m not talking about his amazingly groomed eyebrows, which have put Justin Melck’s “Wolverine” ones to shame, but a singing voice, which can cause even the dullest to sing along.

He could potential sign a recording contract in the near future in my opinion or at least run some X-Factor singers close. His favorites are the Baywatch theme song and Mustang Sally.

Kelly has been giving and receiving a fair bit of banter, for this week’s encounter versus England, which I’m sure he will play a big part in.

It’s going to be a very physical game, and “Mr Kelly Brows” will be at the forefront for Scotland.

Brad Barritt plays centre for Aviva Premiership side Saracens and is a member of the England Saxons squad.

With only eight games in the Premiership season left, the next fortnight is monumental in terms of league positions, with no fewer than eight teams, “biting at each other’s ankles,” pressing for that top four position, and a potential stab at Aviva Premiership glory.

Saturday at Franklin’s Gardens was huge in the context of our season, as we are out of the LV= Cup and the Heineken Cup, so success here lies in our Premiership story.

Northampton have had a very successful season so far, so beating them in their backyard was never going to be easy. However the team rose to the challenge and secured a third consecutive away win at the Gardens.

Rugby is all about confidence and the team will take it in spades from this win. We now know that the road to Twickenham is very much alive and it’s all about continuing what has been started and being consistent.

This weekend we have another huge game against Leeds, who have been very unlucky to date having lost so many games by such small margins, so we will not be underestimating them as we are well aware of the threat and physical battle they provide. And at this stage of the season they have as much to play for as any.

As for my drop-kick against Northampton…. It was my first one since playing in Europe, but having had Super 14 experience at fly-half and having seen Derick Hougaard knock them over at ease for two seasons, I thought I would have a shot – let’s hope it’s not my last.

Brad Barritt plays centre for Aviva Premiership side Saracens and is a member of the England Saxons squad.